Lemon Lime Sorbet - A Little Celebration

My sister had her second baby girl few days ago, just a few days short of my mum's birthday.  So I thought I would throw a wee celebratory morning tea, since I think my sister is the bravest and most awesome sister in the world, and both her and my mum deserved a little treat!  (Yes, baby Arlea is only three days old, but her and her incredible mother were sitting in our lounge as if a two week labour followed by giving birth to a gorgeous baby was a walk in the park!).  So this is a 'Happy Birthday Mum, Welcome to the world baby Arlea, Well done sister' morning tea.  Here's how I put it together....  

The inspiration for the 'theme' (I think every little do needs one!) was this set of mismatched vintage crockery I've been admiring in my studio for the past week.  Three unique pieces, but I just can't separate them!  Love the combination of mint/lime, gold, cream and a hint of yellow, AND the floral detailing.  Super pretty.  Time taken to choose the theme: 30 seconds.

Being the start of spring there are lots of new blooms, blossoms and wild flowers everywhere.  Bunch them loosely in vintage bottles and jars, or place single stems in bottles.  Our lemon tree is laden with lemons at the moment, so they joined the party too.  Time taken to pick and bunch these together: 10 minutes.

Start to style and accessorise the table.  I got out my huge stash of vintage linen and tablecloths and selected a variety of cloths, napkins and runners that complemented the theme.  Pale whites and creams, with floral detailing and touches of lemon and lime.  Overlaying them made for the perfect base to 'build' the morning tea table - layers of lace and linen draping and hanging and peeking through.  And because I couldn't choose just ONE cloth, I got to use them all.  Beautiful!  Time taken: 10 minutes.

Add the accessories.  Vintage forks and spoons in little Agee jars, a pile of vintage napkins (in the appropriate colours), the teapot for the day and tea cups to match.

I needed something to make the setting 'pop' gently.  Since we love a bit of vintage (total understatement!) and this was also a celebration of a young child out came my stash of vintage story books.  Here's my 'bunting' made from five pages of 'little golden books', wooden pegs and twine.  Easy peasy!  And so effective and cute.  Simply pinned up on the wall above the table.  The colours in the story book bunting and the teeny bursts of colour in the linen and flowers bring this table to life.  Time taken: 7 minutes.

I decide a little height is needed for the centre bunch of flowers, especially as the cake and cupcakes will be on elevated cake stands.  Out come a pile of vintage books and voila....height!

Time to add the food....mmmmmmm.  Egg and ham club sandwiches made by my Nana (the are THE best in the world, the softest, freshest bread with REAL butter of course), Chocolate ruffle cake, and lemon cupcakes.

Lemon cupcakes were super easy to make.  I believe it is the easiest cupcake recipe ever.  But you'll have to wait for tomorrow's blog to find out!  Because all of this was very spur of the moment, the only cupcake cases I had in my cupboard were either blue or pink.  "That won't do!" I exclaimed!  So yes, I baked them in the blue cupcake cases, but then I made the little surrounds out of....you guessed it, vintage story books.  I used the same buttercream icing on both the cake and the cupcakes (easy and delish recipe in tomorrow's blog!), but I couldn't find my large star tipped nozzle so had to make do with this other nozzle - they turned out okay, would've preferred the icing to be a bit more immaculate like with the star nozzle, but never mind - delicious all the same!

Ahhhh the chocolate ruffle cake....it honestly is quite easy to achieve, and the 'ruffles' are very forgiving, you can make 'mistakes' and it doesn't really matter.  Of course you can use any cake you like - vanilla, banana, marble, whatever tickles your fancy, BUT this recipe I use for chocolate cake is NEVER FAIL, only 5 minutes prep, NO beating or creaming butter and sugar or even sifting required!  Rises perfectly and tastes AMAZING.  Even my four year old makes it.  But you have to wait until tomorrow's blog to get the recipe. As for the ruffles, they are achieved using a special icing tip, and delicious buttercream icing.  And you need a bucket load of icing for this effect.  For this cake and the cupcakes, I used 400 grams of butter and about one kilo of icing sugar!  Definitely not weight watchers material.  All on tomorrow's blog of course!

The finished product.  All ready to enjoy.  See that cute little teeny patchwork quilt hanging over the chair?  I got to choose it when my baby boy was in the neonatal unit, made by some lovely quilters in Palmerston North.  Isn't it adorable!  And a lovely morning enjoyed by the ladies in our family, and a few men who needed a sweet fix. 

Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog for all of the recipes!

PS - Glass dome cover, cake stands, vintage bottles, twine and more available in our store ;-)

Hope you've been inspired.  See you tomorrow!

Christall x

Kumarahou - The Wonder Weed

One of my kitchen shelves now houses two jars of Kumarahou tonic.  Now, I'm no herbalist, pharmacist or botanist, but I've found something that works for me - it cleared my baby's asthma and chest infection and even fixed my husbands man-flu (!!!) - so by golly I'm going to share the secret!

Normally when the baby gets sick with a little snuffle I know I'm in for 2-3 weeks of a full blown chest infection, asthma, not a lot of sleep, and snot galore.  By day five I'm bringing out the steroids for my darling little 13 month old, as a last resort - since nothing else has worked.

My mum dropped off some dehydrated kumarahou leaves and flowers - which she got from my nana, who got them from my uncle, who bought them online!  Yay, because this NZ native plant really only grow in the far north, which is really far away from here!  I HATED kumarahou as a child - and fair enough, it is ghastly to the palette I tell you! Literally, it tastes like poison.

But I know of its incredible medicinal properties, and I was going to boil it up and get it into my child (and husband) any way I could.  It can be used for chest complaints, bronchitis, asthma, as a general tonic, and is also a blood purifier and helpful for arthritis.  Basically, chuck it in a pot of water and boil it.  My Nana always gently simmers her brew for a couple of hours, so I do too (because Nana knows best).

Once I was satisfied that I had all of the goodness out of the leaves, I drained the liquid through a sieve and into some preserving jars.  It has a pretty good shelf life this stuff.  Probably best kept in the fridge if you're not going to use it quickly.  I mixed a small portion in a little medicine bottle of one part kumarahou tonic and one part manuka honey.  Asher loved it.  In less than a day his wheezing stopped altogether, and in less than a week he was totally clear.  Unheard of!  This tonic does produce a lot of mucus though, as it clears the chest, but it's all for a good cause.  My husband, he just drank it straight - out of a little espresso cup in one shot, a couple of times a day.  Worked a treat.  A day later and no more full blown man-flu - phew!!!

So here it is.  I'm drinking it as a general daily tonic.  One cup every morning.  Apparently do this for one week, have a weeks break, and if you feel the need, do another week.  I'll see how I go.  And a happy dance here for a healthy household!

Christall x

"ALL ABOARD!" - Enosh's train party

My eldest little dude turned four a few months ago, and since he is MAD about trains he wanted a 'TRAIN' party (of course).  He inherited the 'obsession with the rail' from my Grandad (it skipped two generations and landed on Enosh - in full force).  Those two have so much fun together, doing a bit of trainspotting and riding trains in all shapes, forms and sizes.  I've been exposed to enough Thomas the Tank, Chuggington, NZ Rail Scene, British Rail Scene and Marcus Lush's 'Off the Rails' to last me a lifetime (Actually, I really enjoy Off the Rails! Great for a well told Kiwi history)

Anyway, here it is folks, put together by moi.....TOOT TOOT!

Vintage cream bottles with retro paper straws -  both available in our store of course!
www.maisyandgrace.co.nz

The child height party table - constructed of an old door sitting on wooden chairs - covered in fabric, and all very safe and stable!  Paper bunting, party food (before the hot food came out)

Paper bunting - made from coloured card and old railway calendars

Paper cups covered in black and white pictures of steam trains - made for very cool holders for the shoestring fries!  Here they are waiting to be filled on the luggage food station 

The train cake - Mummy cheated, the only part of this train that is cake is the middle wagon!  E for Enosh, 2607 for his birth date - his own personal train number.  Wooden 'bridge' sitting on short Agee jars.

The man himself

Sweet party food, and carrot sticks for good measure

Little cupcakes - bit rough but enjoyed by all!

Popcorn boxes filled with popcorn for the movie!  Made from coloured card and old bingo tokens

Fruit kebabs and train cookies :-)

Hope you enjoyed!  The kids sure did, and the beauty of my husband being a primary school teacher - he took care of all the entertainment, no sweat - yay!  And I got to have a good catch up with the mums :-)

Christall x

Goodbye and Hello. And thank you.

I'm guessing this is going to be one of the hardest posts I've ever had to write.  Well, I've only ever written five!   Might be a long one too so I hope you've got a cup of tea there.  I'll just come straight out with it....

I'm saying goodbye to Hapene Flax NZ Ltd.

Maybe you've already heard, or perhaps you don't even know what Hapene Flax NZ Ltd is!  I guess you could say it was my first 'baby'.  A little idea with a little piece of flax, that I nurtured and grew and developed and loved, and I guess you could even say flax became my life!

Life changes doesn't it.  Twelve years, 50,000 pieces of flax, 3,000 emails, six cats, one husband and two children later....I'm  ready to hang up my flax hat.  A decision that has taken three years to make, but more so in the last year, a decision that has been sitting quietly in the back of my mind, already decided upon, but just not actioned.

It was just over a year ago that I had my second prem baby.  My eldest boy Enosh, he wasn't too early, but still a wee thing at just 4lb 11oz.  As
for Asher, he was born 8 weeks early at a teeny 3lb 10oz.  It has been the hardest, yet most rewarding, year of my life.  I won't go into detail (he's totally fine by the way, a big happy boomba now!), but the year has flown by and the kids are growing up before my eyes....or should I say, 'not' before my eyes.  I'm always busy busy busy. Seems like so much to do, and so many hats to wear.  I know there are others out there who can totally relate.  Taking care of your family + creating all of your products from scratch + marketing + accounts + administration + customer service + every other little detail that being in business involves = worn out, pulling her hair out mum!  It's the 'me having to design and make everything' that is the biggest thing.  No-one else can do it for me.  I'm the artist.  Yes, there are parts of jobs that I can get others to do, but people come to me to get the work that I do.

I'm not an energetic, carefree twenty year old anymore.  I know I'm only in my thirties and still have a lot of life to live, but right now, my priority is my family, and my health.  I want to take the kids to the park, be free to join my sister and nieces for lunch, go for adventures with my boys through the forest, play tackle, bake cakes and do messy art.  And believe it or not, we'd like more kids, totally aware of the fact that my dodgy kidneys are a precursor for preterm labour and teeny tiny babies.  That also means I have to reduce stress levels, take it easy and keep my silly blood pressure down.  Hard to do when you're wearing all the hats!

So it's haere ra to Hapene.
I'm ready to let it go.  I've been fortunate to have received worldwide exposure, awards, extensive press coverage, and regular orders throughout the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.  It has been an amazing experience from which I've learnt SO much, and I couldn't have done it without my family, especially my mum!  I'm ready for someone else to take it to the next level, make it a huge success, and fulfill all of these dreams I have written in this big book called a twelve year visual diary, AKA business plan.  The potential is huge.  Huger than huge.  Who is going to make it happen? Could be you!  Of course, I can't sell 'me', and I can't sell creative talent.

But what you'll get from me is: 
The Patent, 12 years worth of product development, Marketing and business plans, the reputable Hapene branding with the incredible exposure received over the years (see here), product photographs, www.hapene.co.nz and www.hapene.com, beautiful professional website with online store and content management system, all new branding design, stock and materials, trade secrets, full procedures, equipment, suppliers details, client database, Facebook page.....I'll stop here because this post is going to be way too long!  I will give all of this and more to the RIGHT person/persons/company, for the right price (not the highest).  I totally don't expect to be compensated for the blood, sweat and tears poured out over 12 years for this.  I'm completely realistic.  I just want the chance to be more of a mum, and less of a "I'll be with you after I've finished this wedding order".  And I want Hapene to live on, and fulfill its potential.

Which brings me to the HELLO part.  Hello garage (it will be my husbands dream come true to have garage space!).  Hello walks on sunny days.  Hello time to organise my linen cupboard, attack the sewing pile, finish painting the boys rooms, play with the kids!  Hello Maisy & Grace!  Uhhhhh....what???!  Yup, Maisy & Grace.  A lovely little online store I started a little while ago.  Merchants and makers of vintage inspired homewares, art, craft and design.  The philosophy: It's the simple pleasures which MAKE LIFE BEAUTIFUL.

This is something that's been quietly brewing away over the last few years, as my intrigue and passion for the ways of old have slowly infiltrated my life and my thinking.  Inspired by my Grandmothers mainly.  I guess also as you have more children and your life evolves into a more 'domestic' way of thinking, your ideals and outlook on life change too.  I tried to incorporate this passion and love for all things beautifully vintage and classic into Hapene Flax NZ Ltd, but it just didn't quite fit.  The quest for a 'simple beautiful life' was getting more and more complicated!

So enter Maisy & Grace.  You could say they are my idealistic multiple personalities.  Maisy, on the one hand, is like your Nana - she preserves, irons, sews, and loves a simple life with a 'waste not, want not' attitude.  Grace, on the other hand, is like your favourite Aunty - creative, a baker, the ultimate hostess who loves pretty things.  I wish I was them!  Well I can try, and the online store is a take on the good old fashioned General Store - a place where Maisy and Grace inspired homeware is showcased, recipes and housekeeping tips are shared, and where you can get a little (or big) piece of this simple, beautiful lifestyle.

The beauty of this little venture for me, is that I get to share everything I love, and I don't have to make every product from scratch!  This is my new extra curricular activity - every woman needs one!  Especially when you have an overactive mind like I do.  I will still dabble in a bit of creativity - upcycled products, letterpress, sewing, painting (once an artist, always an artist), perhaps a bit of weaving every now and then.  And perhaps I might even put my degree to good use and get back into a bit of interior design work - but maybe when the kids are all at school!  In the meantime, I'm going to aim for a simple, beautiful life - selling these lovely wares, hiring out vintage china, styling the odd event here and there, and most of all, being mum.

If you've read all the way to here - CONGRATULATIONS!  This is a mammoth post!  I hope you'll join me over at my new venture.  Thank you for all of your support and encouragement over the years.  And if you think you have what it takes to make Hapene a huge success....email me - christall.lowe@xtra.co.nz

Take care all,
Hei konei ra,

Christall x